Landing is one of the most demanding tasks in flying. During a landing situation, the aircraft should be brought to a safe and complete stop within a given runway distance. Typically, a pilot will look out the cockpit window and attempt to intuitively estimate a point at which the aircraft landing gear will touch the ground, which is referred to herein as the “touchdown point.” The aircraft usually approaches the runway at a pitch angle such that the rear wheels of the landing gear touch down first. Since the pilot is typically relatively removed from the rear wheels of the landing gear, estimating the exact touchdown point may be a challenge in some circumstances. If the pilot does not accurately estimate the touchdown point, the aircraft could potentially touchdown too hard, or land at an undesirable location.
Low visibility may further complicate landing since the pilot typically loses his natural ability to orient himself and the aircraft to external stimuli under such circumstances, e.g., a natural horizon may not be visible. Without visual orientation stimuli through the window, the pilot cannot define or affirm his positional or attitudinal situation. In these situations, the pilot continually monitors the instruments, including a Flight Path Marker and a number of other dials, gauges, displays, readouts and needles. Even a seasoned pilot typically requires several seconds to scan the complex instrumentation in the aircraft. With the specific information gleaned from each instrument, the pilot synthesizes the information to form an instantaneous composite mental picture of the aircraft approach.
Computer generated aircraft displays have become highly sophisticated and capable of displaying a substantial amount of flight management, navigation, and control information that gives flight crews more effective control of the aircraft and a reduction in workload during a normal flight situation and/or a low visibility, instrument situation. In this regard, electronic displays, such as Heads-Up Displays (HUDs) and Heads-Down Displays (HDDs), are used in aircraft as primary flight displays. For example, the primary flight display can combine critical flight instrumentation (e.g., altitude, attitude, heading, airspeed, vertical speed instruments) and primary engine instrument indicators into a single, readily interpretable display.
Although conventional primary flight displays may provide some assistance to the pilot during normal and instrument situations, they are typically not as helpful during landing situations. Conventional primary flight displays may include a flight path vector that displays the direction in which the aircraft is traveling, and thus, the location at which the aircraft appears to intersect with the runway. However, the flight path vector is usually referenced from the users point of view and may not provide an accurate indication of the touchdown point of the rear wheels of the landing gear.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods that display the touchdown point of an aircraft during a landing situation. Additionally, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for enhancing the safety of aircraft instrument landings. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.